Original subtitles

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered

especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate

these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special

Victims Unit. These are their stories.

How much?

You telling me?

What are you looking for?

Everything.

And good?

A lot. And what's with that?

80.

Where's your friend?

Why don't you get in the car and stop asking questions?

NYPD. Don't shoot.

Don't shoot, please.

NYPD. Don't shoot.

I'm married.

I'm married. I can't. Please, I'm begging you.

My wife won't take the kids.

Hey,

hey, come see me. I'm a police officer.

You hurt?

Come here.

I'm here to help you.

You're not in any trouble, I promise.

Samuel's not going to be able to hurt you.

Can you tell me your name?

Captain. Hey.

Don't start. First of all, you don't look bad. You look good. I mean, this is

something. Oh, yeah, you can borrow it. Thank you.

She won't tell me her name or her age or anything, really.

But she's young.

No older than 15, I think.

John's from Jersey.

So she was already beat up when he solicited her. She won't let the doctor

examine her?

Only treated the busted lip.

But she's in no hurry to leave.

I think she might be ready to accept some help.

All right.

Hey, I'm Olivia.

I'm a police officer.

Ouch. That looks like it hurts a little bit, huh?

I'll get it. I'll get it.

Wow.

I like heels, but I don't think I can walk in these.

You know what I brought? I always bring socks.

People are cold.

Tell them.

They're my favorite.

Super soft, right?

You know what else?

always have in my bag.

Oh, yes.

Little makeup wipes if you want to take your makeup off.

They smell really good. They're cucumber.

You got any hot Cheetos in that bag?

I'm happy to get you some when we're done.

That wig can't be comfortable.

I hope you don't.

There you go.

Oh, that thing is heavy.

Here.

Yeah, get yourself comfortable.

Here, I'll take it.

I'll help you with that. Oh, you got it.

So, what's your name?

Riley. Is there somebody I can call for you, Riley?

How about... It's so cold in here. I should have given you this earlier.

Take this.

There you go.

So, how old are you?

I'll be 15 in a couple months.

Your parents are around?

My mom died when I was little.

Oh, I'm sorry.

My dad, I just don't live with him anymore.

Okay. You in foster care?

Those lashes, are they hard to get on?

Not really.

Okay.

Oh.

That was easy.

So Riley, I don't know you, and you don't know me, but

what happened to you, is it right?

It's not fair.

And you deserve to be protected and loved.

And I can't change the past, but what I can do is I can promise you.

That I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you get to

be the girl that you were supposed to be.

He said if I ever told anyone, I'd never

see my daddy again.

Please, I just want to go home.

Just take me home.

She agreed to the physical exam.

Great. I'll do it myself.

Thank you. Nice work.

So did she tell you her last name or where she lives?

No, but ACS is sending a social worker. They may be able to ID her. Would have

been nice if they checked on the child in their care before she was pimped out.

Look, Ash, I know you're slammed, but I really don't want her to go to another

foster home tonight.

No, I'll find her a bed. Thank you.

Oh. I think that's the social worker. Tell her I'll talk to her after the

Don't bite her head off. Yeah.

You're the detective? I'm the captain, Olivia Benson.

Vivian Parker, ACS. When can I talk to the girl? After you talk to me.

So do you know who she is?

I believe so. From her age and description, I think her name is Riley

Well, is there anything in here about her foster father pimping her out?

I don't think so. Now, did you bother to check on Riley since she's been placed

in that home? I'm new to this case.

Well, then let me bring you up to speed.

She got lost in the system. She's been forced into prostitution. So I need

somebody on this case who actually gives a damn. That's me, Captain.

I don't have to tell you the number of cases ACS has to cover.

Over 50 ,000 cases and 6 ,000 kids in foster care alone and not enough hours

the day to keep track of them? But get her out of that home and tell me who the

foster father is so I can arrest him. Well, that's the thing. There isn't one.

She was placed with a single woman, Monique Sherman. All right, well, I need

speak with Monique.

You weren't concerned when Riley didn't come home last night? What?

Am I supposed to tie her to her bed?

I done told that social worker I cannot control that girl. You told the social

worker two months ago that everything was fine.

I don't know about that.

There's a different one every single time.

That girl is a problem. Always has been.

I didn't know anybody was coming over. I would have cleaned up.

Who's Marcus?

Who? The guy getting bills at this address.

I get the wrong mail every time. Listen, my shift is going to start. You need to

go. Well, there's two coffee cups here in the sink. And there's two phone

chargers. And?

A pair of size 12 work boots.

Four pairs of men's shoes. A couple of men's jackets.

Monique, where's Marcus?

You need to leave.

Somebody in this house is forcing a child into sex trafficking. And if

doesn't exist, that only leaves one other person.

Doesn't it?

Marcus Boyd, 42, has a rap sheet that goes back for 20 years.

Dambling, theft.

and he just finished a bid at Greenhaven last year for promoting prostitution.

Looks like his first foray into trafficking kids. He really wants to go

the bottom of the barrel. With a record like this, he's going to be going away

for a long time. And I suspect he knows that because he's in the wind. So we

have a car sitting on the residence, and Curry is with the foster mother and

Casey Cole.

And how's the girl?

She's comfortable.

There's no drugs in her system, and she can't stay there indefinitely. So the

social worker's trying to place her.

That was Curry.

Marcus called the foster mom. He borrowed money for a bus ticket. He's at

Midtown Terminal now.

We got a hold on all outbound buses. Got every available eye looking. Okay, he

needs ID to buy a ticket, doesn't he? Unless he got it online.

How many gates? Over 200.

I'm sorry, Captain.

This is a tiny needle in a two million square foot haystack.

Level two, they're the gunmen. Think it's him.

We're on our way. Clear the elevators and shut them down. Okay, I want teams

two at every escalator from that level down.

Coordinate with Port Authority Office. Got it, Captain.

Gate 210, Black Jack, Gray Hat. Going to Orlando.

Happy as a pimple nurse. All right, so stay here in case he gets past them, all

right? All right.

Suspect is at Gate 210.

Curry and I are going in.

Mark it, boy.

Don't try it, boy. Don't do it. No. Come on.

Stop. In my opinion, give me some room, please. Get back. Get back and stop.

Whoa,

stop. Freeze.

Oh, my God. My leg is broken.

Man, look at you.

Thought you were dead, lucky duck.

Help me!

Okay, we'll call an ambulance.

In a minute.

A

few

years ago, the department placed a 12 -year -old with them, and they adopted

her. Amazing family. Just really good people. So they're okay with the teenage

girl? Raised three girls of their own. Okay. I vetted them myself, visited the

home, spoke to neighbors.

They're aware of all the circumstances with Riley. They want to help. Good.

Well, this is good news. I don't know if Riley is going to feel that way. I

mean, she really, really wants to go back to her father.

That was cut three, four years ago for abuse.

Before my time. I'm not sure about the details.

Yeah, well, that was in the Bronx.

Back then, SVU was problematic.

Stick around, see what I can find out. Unification would be ideal. Well, I

let's get her somewhere safe first.

Hey, excuse me, where's the girl that was here?

There was another girl here?

Hey, anything?

One camera caught her getting into a car on the south side of the hospital about

two hours before you arrived.

Okay. But the footage is garbage. Could only make out that it was a stark late

model sedan.

How did she leave without getting caught? Not a lockdown ward. I mean, she

have walked through the front door.

Well, I'm checking with the ride share companies now between that time frame.

Check. Line two came in on the non -emergency line. Guy says he's Riley's

Hi, this is Captain Benson.

Hello?

Hello, are you there?

Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Okay, and you're Riley's father?

You're Nathan Williams?

Yes, Nate Williams.

Riley's here. She just showed up on my doorstep.

Okay, Mr. Williams, is Riley okay?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

She's really mad.

Okay.

Hey, Riley.

I'm not leaving. You just have to take me to jail. Okay, nobody's going to

Honey, you know that we cannot do it like this, right? Nobody is listening to

me. Why isn't anyone listening to me? Hey, Riley, we all just want what's best

for you. Then let me stay. My dad never hurt me, and nobody believes me.

I broke my arm playing volleyball, and they said he did it. The hospital

reported the injury to ACS as suspected abuse. The social worker referred it to

Bronx SVU. I talked to the detective.

He said it looked like an accident because it was.

Then a week later, we get pulled into family court, and they said I did it.

then they took her away.

Did you appeal the court's decision?

Yeah. It took me two years to get a lawyer that would even take my case.

We get to appeals court, and they say it's over a six -year backlog on civil

cases? And even then, I went to every class they told me to go to. I got a

better place to live. I talked to every social worker that came to my door, and

it didn't matter.

They shipped Riley all different places.

She missed school, and now some man is beating her?

Putting her in the street?

I would never... I didn't hurt Riley.

And nobody cares. It's been four years.

I will never get that time back. Riley will never get that time back.

I tried, baby.

I tried so hard to get you back.

I'm still trying.

Can you help us?

Can you make them listen?

I don't work for Bronx SVU, so I don't... have the authority to reopen

but I will make some inquiries.

Oh, no.

You're not going to help us.

I'm going to try, but that's really all that I can promise. At this point, maybe

somebody will listen to me.

But unfortunately, you can't stay here right now.

Listen, we have a family that's ready for you to stay with them, and they are

safe and loving.

I will not let you get lost in the system.

Just until we get all this sorted out.

If I could, I'd get out of bed with you right now and we'd just run away.

You know I would.

I'm sorry, baby.

This is my fault.

I will do whatever you want me to do. I'll take any test. I'll pay any money.

Just help me get my daughter back.

The Bronx SPU case file is pretty light. I mean, the lieutenant spoke with the

dad, the school, the hospital, and Riley.

He didn't think that there was anything criminal, and the Bronx DA declined to

prosecute. But somehow, Bronx Family Court got involved and initiated the

removal. The social worker said that there was already an ACS file on Nate

Williams.

from when Riley was a baby.

He had brought her into the hospital with a high fever, and they looked at

for neglect.

Or they looked at him because he was a single dad, low income, and black.

Yeah, that could absolutely be a part of it.

In New York, more than half the kids that are removed from their homes

court order are black, even though those kids only make up a quarter of the

population. Yeah, I can ask Creasy to reach out to Bronx Family Court. He

have some contact.

Who was the lieutenant from the Bronx?

Uh, Della Cruz, you know him?

Oh, yeah, he got... Caught up in the house cleaning over there.

They let him stay in the department, but they busted him down to the property

room. Okay, so he hates you or just intensely dislikes you? I mean, I'm not

getting any Christmas cards from the guy, but he wasn't the worst of them. I

have a chat.

Yeah, I remember it.

Kid busted her arm. Hospital questioned whether the dad could have done it.

You didn't think so?

Plenty of witnesses to the actual injury.

Collided with another kid at practice.

Dad seemed solid. Kid's story was consistent.

I talked to my DA. He defeated it.

Last I heard of it.

Somebody at family court disagreed. They removed her from her home.

Doc at the hospital was real insistent about abuse.

But other than the century, I couldn't find anything to support that.

All I got.

Appreciate you, Javi.

Tell Ginny I said hello.

Ginny left me.

And you and me are not friends.

If they need you in family court, will you testify?

You know where to find me.

Down in this hellhole.

Sir, you're with the Manhattan DA?

How are you doing up here?

Saving my ass for your detectives. Case dropped and they laughed at insects with

one of your clients named Williams.

Okay, and?

And I think I got something that's going to help you get his kid back. Oh, look,

man, don't go telling him things like that, okay? I don't want to give him

hope. Well, hold on, relax. I didn't tell him anything, but I... Listen, I

think you hear what I'm saying here.

The lieutenant investigator is willing to speak on your client's behalf.

He's going to say that he didn't find any evidence of abuse.

Okay, great. Have him give me a call. Thanks.

Wait, hold on.

Do you think your client's innocent?

Yes, I do. I also know it doesn't matter in this case. It doesn't matter?

That's insane.

It's also bordering on negligence. You get a chance to get justice for your

client. You take it.

Have you ever spent any time in Bronx Family Court?

No, I haven't.

You kind of feel it hanging in the air, right?

The despair?

The judges don't care.

They're just waiting for their next political appointment.

Yeah, everybody treats each other like garbage.

And the families that walk through these doors, they get screwed one way or

another. There is rarely a just solution.

Well, I'm telling you, here is one.

Request a new hearing.

Daughter's almost 15 years old. She's going to be able to testify.

Come on, pal. This is as close to a slam dunk as you're going to get.

Yeah, all right. I'll do my best.

You should come up and see for yourself.

Sit in the front row.

All right, I've read the application, motions, and briefs. I've also reviewed

the statements from the investigating detective and the police file.

Mr. Battaglia, please call your first witness. We call Dr.

Bethany Allen.

Dr. Allen, I'll remind you you're under oath.

You may proceed.

Dr. Allen, you're the head of the Child Abuse and Neglect Department at St.

Bartholomew's in the Bronx?

Yes, I am. And you reviewed Riley Williams' case when she was seen in the

Bart's Emergency Department in 2022.

Yes, I did. Can you explain what a child abuse pediatrician is?

Well, it's in the job description. It is a subspecialty of pediatrics. We are

trained to evaluate, treat, and prevent child abuse.

Why did you recommend Riley be removed from the home after evaluating her four

years ago?

I made my recommendation based on Riley's medical history and on the

she presented with.

As a newborn, Riley developed a fever of 102 and by the father's own admission,

he delayed getting medical attention for three days. By definition, failure

to provide necessary medical care is neglect.

And what about her broken arm?

Riley presented with a non -displaced fracture to the ulna, also called a

nightstick fracture.

In young women, this injury often occurs when someone uses their forearm to seal

their face from a blow.

And even though Riley stated she'd been hurt playing sports?

Well, you don't need to be a doctor to understand that children protect their

parents, protect their abusers.

And it's up to me, and to you, and to you, Your Honor.

It's up to us all to protect them.

Thank you all for your presentations.

While I understand that the Administration for Children's Services

burden of proof here, I will say I still have concerns for the minor's safety.

I'll review all the evidence and have a decision in a week.

We're adjourned.

So, what does that mean? Does that mean that she might say yes?

Honestly, it means she wants us to wait until she says no.

Welcome to the Bronx.

Hope you enjoyed your field trip.

Dr. Allen.

Hi. Hi.

I'm Captain Olivia Benson from Manhattan Special Victims Unit, and I was...

Just in court, and I heard your testimony.

Oh, well, I'm happy to have helped.

Well, actually, you know, I'm always looking to learn, and I was wondering if

you might tell me just a little bit more of how you came to your conclusion

about Riley Williams.

Easy. I followed the sign.

Okay, but police work supported everything that Riley said and

her father is saying.

Then the police work is wrong.

How do you know when you're wrong?

Well, I appreciate the work of law enforcement, I do, but you are simply

capable of making judgments at this level, and I'm sorry if that sounds

condescending. It does, but I assume that's the point?

Yeah.

I respect what you do, but if we allow cops and lawyers and judges to interpret

science, children die.

The only thing that I regret about how I handled Riley Williams is I just wish

I'd gotten her out of that house.

Okay, Dr. Allen.

Riley Williams was forced into prostitution while in foster care. She

safer. Yes, but that is not my responsibility, is it?

It's yours.

That's all the time I've got, Captain.

Good luck.

What are our next steps?

We don't really have any.

Why not?

Well, if this isn't even our own county.

And we got the guy a new hearing, and hopefully the judge comes back with the

right decision, but it's not all that we can do here.

I don't know, Olivia. The arm fracture could have been warding off a blow, or

could have happened the way the child and the dad described it. Okay, fine. I

mean, at worst, it's unclear.

But would you have taken her out of the home based on this?

If there was a history of neglect or abuse.

The history is high fever that went on too long before the father sought

attention.

I don't know what you want me to say, Olivia.

Would you have taken her out of the house?

No, but I am just reading the reports. I am not seeing the patient or the

father. Oh, neither did Dr. Allen.

She made her decision remotely based on medical records and imaging.

So what's really bothering you here?

You know, there are only about 350 board -certified CAPs in the country.

Dr. Allen is one of them.

She is one of the most respected and sought after.

But that doesn't mean that she can't make a mistake.

And frankly, I'm a little surprised that you want to challenge the medical

judgment of a physician. I know that I'm not a doctor.

I've been doing this a long time.

And that's got to count for something.

And Dr. Allen is so sure.

And that's a problem.

Doctors can get myopic.

And they want to prove their hypothesis so bad that they reject any information

that doesn't conform with it.

I'm not trying to undermine Dr. Allen. I'm not.

But I think that there may be an injustice here.

Obviously, if I'm wrong, I'll let it go, but... Yeah, that sounds just like you.

Alan keeps jumping around.

For a supposedly rising star in this field, he keeps bouncing to new jobs.

The small hospital in the Bronx isn't exactly a step up.

Always wondered why.

Well, Ashley wasn't wrong.

Dr. Allen has been all over. She started her career in Chicago and then a couple

of places in Cleveland, three or four years since. And she spent the longest

amount of time in the Bronx.

She seems to spend half her time giving expert testimony and talk at medical

conferences. The last one was about abusive head trauma, what we used to

shaken baby syndrome.

Look, you got beef with me or something?

No, why?

Then what's with the boatload of subpoenas you dumped on my desk?

Request medical records from three Cleveland hospitals, the Chicago

Group, employment records, DPFS records, medical board records, all for Dr.

Bethany Allen. Yeah, I'm just, I'm looking to turn.

Liv, come on, I told you. We did our job here. We did more than that. Okay, and

Riley Williams is living in a foster home indefinitely.

Unfortunately, Riley Williams is out of our hands. That's a different

department, and I cannot believe that you, of all people, want to go after a

medical doctor on me. Why? Because you can't be wrong?

That is not what I said.

Christy, I've worked with DAPs before, and it has always been a team.

So what's your plan?

Are you going to build a case against her? Are you going to arrest her? No,

hasn't done anything criminal.

Look, I'm just trying to do the right thing for Riley and for whoever

else is out there.

Hey, CJ, what's shaking?

I got a problem.

That doctor, uh, I used her in a case

six months ago, expert witness, and I got the conviction.

You're questioning that now?

Aren't you?

Sure, I remember this.

Corinne Langford. Baby had a head injury.

Doctor couldn't rule out abuse.

What did the mother tell you? Nothing.

I tried to talk to her at the hospital. She said her cousin was a lawyer.

Something told her never talk to the police. Honestly, that's good advice. So

you never interviewed her at all?

Nope. Next thing I heard, CJ got the indictment. My usual expert witness

available. Someone recommended Dr.

Allen, and she was incredible.

Grand jury loved her. She diagnosed abuse of head trauma.

After the indictment, a defense lawyer wanted a deal, pled to attempted

endangerment one.

Mom's in the middle of 12 months of records.

Where's the kid now?

ACS put him with an aunt. I got to tell you, I don't see what the problem is

here.

The doctors in the ER flagged it for abuse. Alan confirmed it, and the mom

guilty. My guy looked at the case later, said he was surprised I got the

indictment based on what he saw.

Called it a gray area. He wouldn't have called it abuse.

And the mother pled because the lawyer said it would have been worse in front

a jury.

He's right. It would have been.

All right, CJ, I just want to make sure that you're understanding what you're

starting here, because if you open this up, you open up everything.

Do you understand?

I know. I mean, think about what happens when we find out a cop is corrupt. All

those cases, they get tossed, right? So are we going to do that for doctors now?

Honestly, if even one person is in prison for something they didn't do,

too many.

So yeah, I want to open this up. CJ, this is not just about guilty people

walking free. This is also about potentially sending kids back to their

So you better be damn sure.

Because I am not qualified to determine if a doctor is doing medical

malpractice. And neither are you.

Let me find someone who is.

Olivia, I gave you my five -minute opinion on the last case as a favor to

and that's all I'm comfortable doing. All right, Ash, please. Will you please

just listen to me?

Hey, I wouldn't bring this to you if it wasn't important.

This is a dangerous road.

Do you really want police and lawyers to litigate medical diagnoses? Doctor,

this is really because I screwed up.

I used Dr. Allen's testimony, and I may have put an innocent woman in jail.

She lost custody of her baby.

I would love it.

If you read this file and said Dr. Allen was right all along, that would make my

day.

I'm not looking for anything other than the truth.

All right.

I'll let you know when I have an opinion. But if I don't find anything,

the last I want to hear about it. Understood.

All right. Thank you. Thank you.

She's the best. She will give us an unbiased opinion.

So I'm going to head to the precinct.

I'm going to head to Rikers.

When Langford never got to tell her side of the story about time someone

listened.

It's Langford. I'm PJ Jones. I remember who you are.

Good.

There have been some...

developments in your case that I wanted to tell you about.

And I wanted to ask you some questions.

I don't have nothing to say to you.

Some new evidence may have come to light that could exonerate you.

So talking to me about what happened when your son was injured could only

This is a good thing.

This is good.

I know. I'm applying for it.

You don't know.

You don't know. You put me here.

I lost my baby because of you.

He's living with another woman who isn't his mother because of you.

Then let me try to fix it.

Do you want to know what happened?

My baby bumped his head.

Not even hard.

And then his eyes rolled back.

And I called an ambulance.

And we went to the hospital, the place that's supposed to help us.

I didn't know I was never going to see him again.

And y 'all looked at me, a black single mother, and decided I was guilty.

And then you made me say it in court knowing it wasn't true.

You made me say I hurt my baby.

So go ahead. Try and fix whatever you did wrong.

It won't be enough.

Well, I'm starting to see why Carisi is so pissed off.

Can't wait.

Look, I don't want to arrest Alan.

I just want to make this right.

And the only way to do that is to...

prove her wrong, which we can't do because we're not doctors.

And I'm not about to go around telling doctors they don't know what they're

talking about. So what? So we just swallow it? No.

Just things happen and just collateral damage.

I could ask Carisi to convene an investigative grand jury, look into

and procedures of ACS, make recommendations on how they could do it

the real purpose would be putting Dr. Allen's actions on public record.

She's used to nobody questioning her. Let's make her give some answers.

Ash.

What happened?

She hit a test.

I only caught it because I checked the records against Medicaid.

She tested him for genetic clotting disorder, von Willebrand's disease.

He's got it.

The brain bleed on the image is from... The disease certainly can't be ruled

out. She took the test out of the record, but she ordered it.

Carl Carisi can be in a grand jury.

Dr. Mancini, would you say that abusive head trauma, also known as shaken baby

syndrome, is a controversial diagnosis?

No, I wouldn't.

It's only controversial in the courtroom, not within the medical

Part of why the name changed is because of lawyers like yourself who questioned

the shaken part of it, even questioned if it was a real thing.

Abusive head trauma is a more accurate description.

And can accidental head trauma?

ever be mistaken for abusive head trauma?

Sometimes. Fall and illness and infection, even some congenital

have similar symptoms.

Congenital disorders, like a genetic disease?

Yes. And how would a doctor rule that out?

A blood test.

Dr. Allen, I'd like to talk to you about your tenure up in the Bronx.

Happy to. Now, you found a lot of child abusers.

I have. By some metrics, there was a 20 %...

increase in referrals to ACS from your hospital?

We are diligent and vigorous.

How does it work up there? Do you mostly call the shots, or do you work together

as a team? As a team, with my medical colleagues, along with law enforcement

ACS. And does this team ever disagree?

No.

Lockstep, then?

We know how to interpret information and arrive at similar conclusions.

But what would happen if they did disagree with you?

They wouldn't.

No, I guess they wouldn't.

Doctor, I'd like to ask you about one case in particular. This is a baby boy,

Jason Langford. Now, I know that you've reviewed this file. I have it here for

you if you'd like more time with it. I'm very familiar.

Okay, good.

Now, you diagnosed Jason with abusive head trauma. I did.

Fortunately, not fatal.

We were able to save him.

And you were able to rule out accidental head trauma.

Yes. He had a subdural hematoma that was interhemispheric and bilateral retinal

hemorrhaging. All strong indicators of AHT.

Did you test for hypertension?

Yes. What about hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy?

Someone's learning their big boy words.

Yes, I am. Yes, I am. We did not test for that, as it was not indicated.

Sure.

What about a blood clotting disorder, like von Willebrand's disease? Did you

test for that?

No, same reason.

Now, you have examined this entire file, and there was no other possible

explanation for Jason's injuries.

Yes, I have, and no, there is not.

And you're aware, of course, that you are under oath here today. I am.

Thank you, Dr. Allen.

Perjury?

That is an outrageous accusation. It's an accurate one. Your client under oath

said that she never tested for a blood clotting disorder, but she did order

test and deliberately concealed that fact.

Now, your lawyer will tell you that perjury one is a Class D felony. That's

punishable by up to seven years in state prison.

You can't be serious.

I'm dead serious, Doctor.

You would send me to jail for this. A mistake. A mistake?

This is not a mistake.

You hid that test from the mother. You hid it from ACF. And you hid it from the

initial grand jury.

And then you lied about it.

Why? Because that baby was in imminent danger.

From a mother who was incapable of providing him with a stable, secure

environment. The baby had a genetic disorder. That's what caused his injury.

Oh, you know that for a fact. No, you don't. Like you, I can only look at the

evidence before me.

And if there's reasonable doubt... Reasonable doubt means nothing to a dead

child, Captain. I'm on the front lines. I am sometimes the only chance a child

has at survival.

Better safe than sorry, right? Better alive.

Then dead.

Then why hide it, doctor?

Why change the medical records? Why lie to the grand jury?

Because they didn't have the capacity to understand the complexities of what I'm

trying to do. No, no, you hid it because you knew that you were wrong.

And here we are.

What do you want? Well, I'm not interested in seeing your client go to

But the way I see it, you've got two options here.

Now you can go forward with this perjury trial.

You'll get convicted.

You're probably going to do two to four years.

Your medical license, that gets terminated along the way.

Or, you give up your medical license now.

No conviction.

No felony record.

More than likely, you'll never have to hear our names again.

I need to confer privately with Dr. Allen.

You've got an hour.

Does this make children safer?

Does this help anyone but the abusers I've put in prison?

I don't know, Dr. Allen. I really don't. But what I do know is that a couple of

kids have a chance to go home to their parents now.

Parents that love them.

And for that, my conscience is clear.

How about yours?

After considering the newly discovered evidence in this case, I am dismissing

the charges against the defendant.

Ms. Langford, you have my sympathy, and I apologize for all that you've gone

through.

Adjourned.

Karen Langford missed her son's first steps.

How awful is that?

All we can do is try to do the right thing, and when that doesn't happen, try

fix it.

You can be proud of yourself, CJ.

She's still going to have to fight to get him back?

How long is that going to take?

She'll have someone on the inside helping her out.